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HEATH PLANT
Families of 150 men, nearly all residents of Lewistown,
Participate in Big Payroll
Entire Northwest Provided with Viral Fireproof Building Materials Manufactured at the
Large Factory Located East of the City on Site of Mammoth Gypsum Rock Deposit
12-21-41 newspaper
Raw gypsum rock is transformed into modern fireproof building material at
the Heath plant of the United States Gypsum company, nine miles east of Lewistown.
This plant is one of the largest units of industry in this part of Montana in recent
years, it has expanded rapidly and now employs about 150 men, nearly all of whom are
residents of Lewistown. Through these men and their families and through its varied
local purchases, the Heath plant is an important factor in the social and economic life of
this community and this section of the state.
The Heath plant provides the entire northwest with a variety of fireproof building
materials, including plasters, wall boards, lath and tile. It also supplies gypsum rock to
Pacific Northwest cement manufacturers who use it in the production of Portland
cement. The chief markets for the plant are the centers of population near Portland,
Seattle, Tacoma and Spokane. At present, large shipments are being rushed on
defense orders to army camps, housing projects and other miscellaneous activities
related to the war effort. Many carloads are being crated for export boat shipments to
army and navy bases.
The United States Gypsum company, which operates at Heath, is a building
materials manufacturer with nearly 50 points located throughout the United States. The
company owes its growth and success to its development of gypsum products, but in
recent years it has built or purchased plants for the manufacture of insulating materials,
metal building products, roofing, paper, asbestos cement shingles, paints, acoustical
materials and a wide variety of other products. These materials are used on every
imaginable structure, from cottages to cathedrals and from farm houses to factories.
Throughout manufacture, the Heath gypsum products are subjected to constant
testing in a modern well-equipped laboratory under the direction of trained chemical
engineers. The tests begin with the raw material and are carried through to final
inspection immediately before shipment. The local laboratory men are given the benefit
of the work constantly being done in applied and scientific research at the Building
Materials Research Laboratories of the company, in Chicago.
The Heath products are chiefly marketed under the trade names of Red Top
plaster, Pyrobar tile, Sheetrock, Rocklath and Gyplap. Special plasters, limes and other
building products are produced in other USG plants and warehoused at Heath for
reshipment.
The employees of the Heath plant are active participants in a safety campaign
which is always underway. The men are protected from injury by adequate mechanical
devices. They work under a carefully compiled set of safety rules and they are given
prizes for extended safely records. All of the men are urged to wear safely shoes with
protective steel toes, to don goggles for any work which might be even remotely
dangerous to the eyes and underground, to wear hard hats for protection. Many
important safety improvements at the Heath plant are a direct result of suggestions
made by wide-awake employees. For the treatment of minor injuries, the plant
maintains an assortment of first aid equipment and provides skilled first aid men for the
work.

HEATH PLANT
Families of 150 men, nearly all residents of Lewistown,
Participate in Big Payroll
Entire Northwest Provided with Viral Fireproof Building Materials Manufactured at the Large Factory Located East of the City on Site of Mammoth Gypsum Rock Deposit
12-21-41 newspaper
Raw gypsum rock is transformed into modern fireproof building material at
the Heath plant of the United States Gypsum company, nine miles east of Lewistown.
This plant is one of the largest units of industry in this part of Montana in recent years, it has expanded rapidly and now employs about 150 men, nearly all of whom are residents of Lewistown. Through these men and their families and through its varied local purchases, the Heath plant is an important factor in the social and economic life of this community and this section of the state.
The Heath plant provides the entire northwest with a variety of fireproof building materials, including plasters, wall boards, lath and tile. It also supplies gypsum rock to Pacific Northwest cement manufacturers who use it in the production of Portland cement. The chief markets for the plant are the centers of population near Portland, Seattle, Tacoma and Spokane. At present, large shipments are being rushed on defense orders to army camps, housing projects and other miscellaneous activities related to the war effort. Many carloads are being crated for export boat shipments to army and navy bases.
The United States Gypsum company, which operates at Heath, is a building materials manufacturer with nearly 50 points located throughout the United States. The company owes its growth and success to its development of gypsum products, but in recent years it has built or purchased plants for the manufacture of insulating materials, metal building products, roofing, paper, asbestos cement shingles, paints, acoustical materials and a wide variety of other products. These materials are used on every imaginable structure, from cottages to cathedrals and from farm houses to factories.
Throughout manufacture, the Heath gypsum products are subjected to constant testing in a modern well-equipped laboratory under the direction of trained chemical engineers. The tests begin with the raw material and are carried through to final inspection immediately before shipment. The local laboratory men are given the benefit of the work constantly being done in applied and scientific research at the Building Materials Research Laboratories of the company, in Chicago.
The Heath products are chiefly marketed under the trade names of Red Top plaster, Pyrobar tile, Sheetrock, Rocklath and Gyplap. Special plasters, limes and other building products are produced in other USG plants and warehoused at Heath for reshipment.
The employees of the Heath plant are active participants in a safety campaign which is always underway. The men are protected from injury by adequate mechanical devices. They work under a carefully compiled set of safety rules and they are given prizes for extended safely records. All of the men are urged to wear safely shoes with protective steel toes, to don goggles for any work which might be even remotely dangerous to the eyes and underground, to wear hard hats for protection. Many important safety improvements at the Heath plant are a direct result of suggestions made by wide-awake employees. For the treatment of minor injuries, the plant maintains an assortment of first aid equipment and provides skilled first aid men for the work.
The company offers its employees an all-inclusive health and life insurance program at extremely low rates. Vacations with pay are given to employees who meet certain company eligibility rules.
Thirty years ago, the United States Gypsum company operated a small plant west of Great Falls, but this enterprise only had a life of about five years. The Heath plant was built originally in 1922 by Mr. Calkins, as a small mill devoted only to the production of plaster and tile. It was purchased by the United States Gypsum Company.
The Heath plant is picturesquely situated on a hillside overlooking the valley of East Fork. It consists of two main buildings, one for the production of plaster of paris cement plaster and gypsum tile and the other for the production of board products. In addition, the plant contains a group of small manufacturing buildings and a few homes. A mine has been developed in the hillside behind the mill. Railroad facilities are provided on the Winnett branch of the Milwaukee road. The highway from Lewistown to Heath is oiled for the first four miles, but the remainder is gravel and is under construction, however, the county hopes to provide a first-class gravel road by spring.
The gypsum rock is found in a comparatively flat seam interceded with shales and lime stones. It is mined by a typical coal extraction process on a room and pillar system. This means that as the rock is extracted, the roof is supported by pillars of gypsum left in place.
The first step in the mining routine is to drill holes in the face in such a manner that they can be loaded with dynamite and then exploded by electrical methods, to break the rock loose. The broken material is sorted and loaded by hand so that rigid quality specifications can be met. The mine cars are gathered from various working places by mules and delivered to an electric locomotive which hauls them in trains our of the mine to the crusher. Electric power is supplied to the underground workings by a motor generator set which converts alternating current into direct current, the latter being safer and more adaptable to mine machinery. Large quantities of fresh air are forced into the mine by a fan and the air is made to circulate throughout the various workings by means of directing walls which are known as brattices.
After the raw lump rock is delivered from the mine, it is dumped into a jaw crusher which literally chews it up between massive steel laws. Further reduction is made in a so-called pot crusher, after which the material is screened. At this point, the plant produces its first product, crushed gypsum rock in various sizes which is delivered to railroad cars for shipment to the Portland cement companies. Most of the screened rock, however, continues on its journey through the mill, passing through bins and a fine grinding and air separation process.
The pulverized raw gypsum is now known as land plaster. Some of this material is sacked and shipped under the trade name of Ben Franklin Agricultural Gypsum for use as fertilizer.
Gypsum is chemically known as calcium sulfate, with two molecules of combined water. Through the fine grinding stage, this material has been unaltered except to be enormously reduces in size. However, it must go through its first chemical change in which three-fourths of the combined water is driven off. Later in the manufacture of wall board and tile and in use as plaster, water is added and the gypsum reverts to its original form and sets essentially as rock again.
The process of driving off the combined water is known as calcinations. This takes place in great steel and brick kettles which can hold charges of 20 tons at a time. Here the material is boiled and agitated under moderate temperatures until it reaches the plaster of paris stage. It is then dumped in the hot pits, elevated and divided into three main directions.
Part of the hot plaster is reground in a long tube mill, screened and mixed with various chemicals to make a wide variety of plasters. After mixing and sacking, the plaster is loaded into railroad cars or trucks for shipment.
Another stream of materials from the kettles is diverted through bins to a mixer and block manufacturing machine where it is made into partition tile. After drying, this material is stored for shipment.
The third stream of kettle plaster is sent under the railroad tracks to a separate building, known as the board plant. Here, after mixing with water and certain chemicals, the plaster is fed between rolls of heavy paper and starts its journey through a special machine, which is over 300 feet long. Through the operation of automatic switches, the resulting board is cut, completely reversed in its direction and fed into a long kiln. In this kiln, which is heated by modern oil furnaces and powerful fans, the board is dried and emerges almost in its final condition. It is bundled according to its size and future use; some of it is also perforated. Shipments are made from a warehouse serviced by an overhead electric crane.
Nine miles east of Lewistown the Heath plant of the United States Gypsum Company is built on a pine- studded hillside overlooking the valley of East Fork. The gray steel building above the Milwaukee tracks is the mill where the crushing, grinding and calcining operations are conducted. The mine entrance lies behind this building with all the workings deep underground. The long brick structure is the board plant, where one great machine, over 300 feet long, produces millions of square feet of fireproof Sheetrock and Rock lath, every month for the building industries of the Pacific Northwest and for military and naval structures as far distant as Alaska. A few employees live at Heath, but most of the 150 men employed are residents of Lewistown.

HEATH PLANT
Families of 150 men, nearly all residents of Lewistown,
Participate in Big Payroll
Entire Northwest Provided with Viral Fireproof Building Materials Manufactured at the
Large Factory Located East of the City on Site of Mammoth Gypsum Rock Deposit
12-21-41 newspaper
Raw gypsum rock is transformed into modern fireproof building material at
the Heath plant of the United States Gypsum company, nine miles east of Lewistown.
This plant is one of the largest units of industry in this part of Montana in recent
years, it has expanded rapidly and now employs about 150 men, nearly all of whom are
residents of Lewistown. Through these men and their families and through its varied
local purchases, the Heath plant is an important factor in the social and economic life of
this community and this section of the state.
The Heath plant provides the entire northwest with a variety of fireproof building
materials, including plasters, wall boards, lath and tile. It also supplies gypsum rock to
Pacific Northwest cement manufacturers who use it in the production of Portland
cement. The chief markets for the plant are the centers of population near Portland,
Seattle, Tacoma and Spokane. At present, large shipments are being rushed on
defense orders to army camps, housing projects and other miscellaneous activities
related to the war effort. Many carloads are being crated for export boat shipments to
army and navy bases.
The United States Gypsum company, which operates at Heath, is a building
materials manufacturer with nearly 50 points located throughout the United States. The
company owes its growth and success to its development of gypsum products, but in
recent years it has built or purchased plants for the manufacture of insulating materials,
metal building products, roofing, paper, asbestos cement shingles, paints, acoustical
materials and a wide variety of other products. These materials are used on every
imaginable structure, from cottages to cathedrals and from farm houses to factories.
Throughout manufacture, the Heath gypsum products are subjected to constant
testing in a modern well-equipped laboratory under the direction of trained chemical
engineers. The tests begin with the raw material and are carried through to final
inspection immediately before shipment. The local laboratory men are given the benefit
of the work constantly being done in applied and scientific research at the Building
Materials Research Laboratories of the company, in Chicago.
The Heath products are chiefly marketed under the trade names of Red Top
plaster, Pyrobar tile, Sheetrock, Rocklath and Gyplap. Special plasters, limes and other
building products are produced in other USG plants and warehoused at Heath for
reshipment.
The employees of the Heath plant are active participants in a safety campaign
which is always underway. The men are protected from injury by adequate mechanical
devices. They work under a carefully compiled set of safety rules and they are given
prizes for extended safely records. All of the men are urged to wear safely shoes with
protective steel toes, to don goggles for any work which might be even remotely
dangerous to the eyes and underground, to wear hard hats for protection. Many
important safety improvements at the Heath plant are a direct result of suggestions
made by wide-awake employees. For the treatment of minor injuries, the plant
maintains an assortment of first aid equipment and provides skilled first aid men for the
work.